What Does the Library of the Future Look Like?

A library without books was once inconceivable. Now it seems almost inevitable. The cornerstone of a library's value remains the same: Information. Analogue or digital...information is power.

Some Library Facts:

In ancient times, a library was a means for kings to show off their wealth and power. The Library of Alexandria In Egypt was the world's first great library. It boasted early texts by Euripides, Sophocles, and Homer, and housed almost 500,000 scrolls.

The advent of the printing press provided humans with the first technological advancement in spreading information. In many ways, it paralleled the digital "information age" that exists today.

The turn of the 20th century was the golden age for libraries in America fed by both an influx of immigration and the philosophy of a free public education.

The first official U.S. public library was the New York Public Library, built in 1895.

Today, the Library of Congress in Washington DC remains the biggest library in the world containing over 162 million cataloged items.

The future of libraries might just involve Google. The "Google Books Library Project" scans works from the collections in libraries and adds them to its online digital inventory. This catalog has been recognized for its potential to offer unprecedented access to what may become the largest online body of human knowledge.